Monthly Archives: August 2014

Booknosh.com is pleased to be part of Corbin Lewars’ CLP blog tour and sharing the following excerpt from her book, Losing Him, Gaining You: Divorce as Opportunity.

From Chapter 11: Your Body

Everyone has Aged, not Just You

I considered my body while getting divorced about as much as I thought about the mating habits of tarantulas. I was so wrapped up in my emotions I didn’t care about my body. This isn’t to say I ate nothing but pizza for months straight. I still walked every day and ate well-balanced meals, along with my lover, the pound cake. I didn’t abuse my body, I just didn’t think about it. About five seconds after Jeremy moved out, people asked me when I was going to start dating again. My response was usually, “Never,” but their questions started seeping into my self-conscious. “Dating?” I thought. “I vaguely remember that term. I think it involved the opposite sex.”

For a month or two, the term “opposite sex” frightened me so much I couldn’t process anymore. “Don’t worry, pound cake! I’m still here for you!” I’d call out. And back to my lover’s arms I went.

Time passed and I dared to go a little bit further with this dating notion. “Yes, dating would involve talking to men,” I told myself. “Steady now girl, you can do this. Maybe some day you could have coffee with a man, that wouldn’t be too bad, would it?”

The beginning of the book throws a ton of information at you: That Duncan is a wastrel who ran off with his married sister-in-law the day before his own wedding, that he now has to marry a woman of respectable birth within 16 days or lose one of the unentailed estates he’s been looking forward to living on, etc. Then, we learn that Margaret was young and beautiful and could have married her neighbor’s son Crispin, but she chose to stay behind and help raise the rest of her family. Now she’s thirty, Crispin is back, but she feels betrayed, no longer loves him, and so she tells him she’s engaged to another fellow (who’s asked her twice and has seemingly promised to ask again). When she finds out that intended finace has a finacee of his own, she is desperate: she more or less runs into Duncan, and they decide to become engaged to each other.

I couldn’t finish this book. Though it was classified and recommended to me as a historical romance, it is, instead, poorly written erotica, that barely gives a nod to the time period and setting. The three chapters I was almost able to finish featured completely unrealistic, misogynistic sex scenes (I’m sorry, I don’t see how rearrangement of womb or cervix is supposed to be sensual in any way). The language is vulgar, the sex scenes ludicrous to the point of hilarity, and it’s hard to imagine how the book would have resolved with any amount of emotion.

My toddler loves dinosaurs, and generally likes dinosaur books, but this one was a miss It’s a bit preachy in terms of what’s good/acceptable party behavior, and the rest of it is just… okay. It’s getting to be a pretty long series now, and while I still generally like the art and storylines, I think there are high points and weak points…

Cut to the Chase:
This isn’t my favorite Cynsters novel, but it’s definitely up there, and it’s really the one that started it all. We’ve got two equally determined, managing, use-to-being-in-charge protagonists, who are ridiculously attracted to one another, and who fight being together. He wants her, and even wants to marry her, but seeks to be the dominant force, and wants everything on his terms. She, on the other hand, wants independence, is used to getting her own way, and thus very hesitant to enter into an alliance which might, in any way, threaten the autonomy she so treasures. It’s a battle of wills, it’s highly sensual (as are all things Stephanie Laurens) and for once the “mystery” component doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the novel or feel completely tangential/unnecessary. The introduction to the rest of the Bar Cynster is well done, and you can truly see how this is the book (and series) that she became famous for. The characters are emotionally complex (despite the alpha-dominant-outer-layers) and believable. It’s not my favorite, but it is very well done.

Cut to the Chase:
This is a hero-uses-heroine-for-revenge book, and as such, we have the patient heroine who believes that the hero is a better man than he appears to be, as well as the angsty hero who initially tries to close off his emotions and focus on just getting revenge. In this particular story, the two are part of an original trio of childhood friends, which means that they have history and a past relationship that plays heavily into her hope that he’ll reform, and the emotional pull he feels toward him. I did feel as though parts of the revenge plot dragged and were tiresome, and also, I really disliked how some of the final climactic scenes played out (spoilers below), but overall, this felt like a slightly-lighter-almost-at-times-fun take on the revenge trope.

Below is an interview with Melissa McPahail.1. How important do you think cover art is to selling your books?

I think cover art is essential to book sales. A well-crafted cover will tell the reader in which genre the book is classified, represent in some way the story’s theme, and give an overall impression of the world. Fantasy book covers are vital to presenting a sense and feeling of the world. In many cases, the cover is the only visual representation a reader gets.

And of course, we all know that a book cover done well will catch a potential reader’s attention. It’s your best and sometimes only chance to make that memorable first impression.

Below is a guest post by author Melissa McPhail, discussing the role of religion in the craft of world-building.

One Often Overlooked Element of World-Building

Every author should understand world-building. Whether engaged in the writing of genre or literary fiction, an author crafts a unique world with each novel. Even when set in the present day, the novel’s events layer a new dimension upon our visible reality. It’s the dimension of those characters, of that story, but it should feel as real to the reader as his own tangible environment.

Cut to the Chase:Honestly? I wasn’t overly impressed with the plot blurb, but this was wonderfully written, plotted and paced, with the romance, drama and action all very-well balanced. We’ve got a regency-era batman story (complete with joker/villain-who-murdered-parents, Alfred-like-valet, and a training grounds). He’s a believably compelling character who only sometimes allows himself to become maudlin about what he “owes” to the duchy. Artemis, his eventual lover and love interest is believably layered as well: she clings to the background because it’s what’s expected of her, as a companion, but has streaks of boldness that are believable and surprisingly not-overdone. Their initial passion, followed by emotional entanglement is well-crafted and very satisfying.